Teacher's Pet
by ninjavampirezombie
Summary: Phoenix is a Hufflepuff overshadowed by her three best friends. Severus Snape is a teacher whom very few enjoy. In a twisting road of odd, sometimes humorous events they connect first as teacher and student... and then into love.
1. Chapter 1: 394

**AN**: Hey guys :) I don't really have much to say except that this is my first fanfiction so please don't eat me. I know I still have things to learn. But thank you for choosing to read this! :D

This story begins in the middle of winter fifteen years ago in the Weasley's home. Within the house a woman in her late twenties with a bulging stomach was laying on a bed squeezing her husband's hand while screaming in pain. Molly Weasley stood at the other end with her arms outstretched and joining the woman's husband in encouraging as much as possible. "Harper, just a few more pushes! Come on, you can do it!" Mrs. Weasley would yell every few minutes while Harper's husband held Harper's hand and did her breathing with her. About an hour later, a newborn girl was placed in Harper's arms. The girl didn't fuss or scream, instead she looked blankly up at her two parents with turquoise eyes. "Molly, she's not making a noise. Is she okay? What's wrong?" The new mother began to panic and held her daughter closer to her chest, which made the child emit a sound of protest. Mrs. Weasley picked the girl and looked at her for a few moments while the girl pulled at a piece of her red hair and emitted a few sounds of amusement.

"She's fine Harper," Mrs. Weasley said as she handed the girl back over, "Now what do you and Felix want to name her?" The young couple looked down at their daughter who looked back up at them again. "Phoenix." Harper said while playing with the red fuzz that on top of Phoenix's head. "Phoenix? You want to name her after your first dragon?" Mrs. Weasley looked confused, but she shook her head and walked away mumbling to herself about not questioning the odd couple that sat in that room. Harper and Felix spent the rest of the evening gushing over their newborn and telling her that her name would forever be Phoenix Spectra Remington.

Phoenix grew into a delightful young girl who shared her father's passion for potions and her mother's love of dragons. Never having any siblings, she adored the time her family spent with the Weasleys. She spent her first eleven years only having one friend, Ron Weasley. As children they would run around the Weasley property playing games and pretending that they were powerful wizards who were saving the world. The two were even together when they received their acceptance letters into Hogwarts. On the train she had been sitting with Ron when he met Harry and Hermione and had become as close with them as she was with Ron. Phoenix had even stolen some of Harry's spotlight by being the girl who stumped the sorting hat. Yes, you read it right. The sorting hat had sent Phoenix back into the crowd because it couldn't decide where to send her. She was finally sorted into the Hufflepuff when every other student had gone. She had played a part in the adventure for the Sorcerer's Stone as well as the Chamber of Secrets and meeting Harry's godfather, Sirius Black.

Though Phoenix couldn't say much about what happened the first four years of Hogwarts, it all went by so quickly with flashes of Harry's triumphs and points being awarded, and her being unknowingly pushed to the side. It was hard for her to explain how she fit into the small group of people she considered her only friends. Ron was the courage, Hermione the brains, Harry the heart. What was she? The blood or something? Through it all she kept a positive attitude and knew that somewhere, someway, she'd find a place to fit in. And without her knowing, her fourth year would prove to her right.

The traveling Weasleys and company were tiredly making their way towards the Quidditch World Cup as a shadow fell over them. "What in the…" Mr. Weasley started before he looked up to see a fair sized, almost sky colored dragon hovering just above the party. As soon as he recognized the passengers on board Mr. Weasley cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled, "HELLO REMINGTON FAMILY!" The faint outline of three arms waving could be seen in response. After the walking party made their way to their tent and started setting up, the overcast of the dragon once again reappeared. Slowly the dragon made its decent onto a bare space of grass close to the Weasley camp. A man in his late thirties descended first and then extended his hand to help down a woman who was also in her late thirties off. The man turned around again to extend his hand but found the third person missing. A confused look crossed his face before he heard a thud hit the ground on the other side of the dragon followed by a string of choice words. A few moments later, Phoenix made her way back around to join her parents.

"Hello Weasley family!" Mr. Remington exclaimed as he grabbed Mr. Weasley's hand to shake, "Good to see you! We'll have you know that we're rooting for Ireland!" The two men started talking and laughing about life and work. Mrs. Remington had made herself busy chatting about something to Ginny and Hermione, who thought of Mrs. Remington as a role model and formed a habit of staring at her. Ron and Harry directed their attention towards Phoenix. "Well hello to my other little sister!" Ron teased as he put her in a headlock and proceeded to give the girl a noogie. "RON! If you mess up my hair… I swear to god I will annihilate you!" Phoenix responded and kicked Ron's shin with her steel-toed military boots. Ron in turned gasped in pain and went down. The fire headed girl grinned evilly and jumped on top of Ron. "Don't even think about trying to mess up this masterpiece." She grinned and smoothed down the fire on her head. "I'll think about it if you don't get off me!" Ron yelled back and bucked the girl off so she fell back on her rear for the second time. Harry stood and laughed at the scene in front of him. Phoenix had at first been extremely quiet and awkward, but grew more social as she became better friends with Harry and Hermione. All went well at the Quidditch World Cup until the Death Eaters made their way. In the confusion, Harry and Ron happened to catch a glimpse of Phoenix just standing there mumbling something. She didn't run or try to hide, instead she looked somewhere in between angry and worried. Though the girl's behavior was pushed out of their minds as they fled into the woods. That was the last they saw of Phoenix until the start of Hogwarts.

"Excuse me, Professor Snape but Harry Potter's presence is requested." Snape turned viciously around to the student who dared to interrupt his class. He tried to argue to make the boy stay, but gave up and let Harry leave. Snape stood with his arms crossed and a sneer on his face until the door to the classroom closed, he then turned around and continued the lesson. "Now, what is most important about this potion is the temperature of the liquid in the cauldron. What temperature must it be at through the entire process?" Most of the class was hesitant to raise their hands, though really Snape couldn't blame them. Were they mostly all imbeciles, yes. But imbeciles still needed to learn. The usual suspect, Hermione Granger, was just about waving her hand wildly in the air. Snape continued to stare at the rest of the class due to his hatred for calling on the girl. She was incredibly intelligent, but she was absolutely annoying. Finally, another brave hand rose. Snape smirked as he called on the student, "Miss Remington." Without missing a beat Phoenix replied, "394 degrees." Snape's smirk widened as he saw Hermione huff and cross her arms. "Very good Miss Remington. Remember, if the potion does not stay at 394 degrees then you will face some of the worse pain of your life." Snape continued on. As he lectured, he'd occasionally make eye contact with Phoenix. He would never admit it, but he was fond of her. Phoenix was smart, humble, and never capitalized on who her parents were. These were all qualities about her that he found surprising when he looked at the three people she was with the most. The lecture continued all the way to the end of class when the students were assigned to write a paper of the symptoms they would experience if they screwed up what they learned that day. Snape turned around and began erasing the scribbles on the board.

Snape didn't hear the soft click of military boots on the dungeon floor behind him. "Professor?" Snape turned to the owner of the soft, nervous voice that just spoke. "Yes Miss Remington?" Snape crossed his arms and sucked all emotion out of his face to hold his reputation of intimidation. "Uh, I would like to turn in the homework early, sir." Phoenix replied while handing over her homework and avoiding eye contact. Snape raised an eyebrow and snatched the paper, "And how did you know that I would be assigning this homework?"

Phoenix made eye contact with Snape now. "I used what Professor Trelawney has taught us and used the stars to help predict what homework will be assigned. Please don't ask me to explain. It's quite complicated." Snape smirked and pat Phoenix on the head, which confused her.

"You're quite a student Miss Remington," Snape turned around and walked to his desk, "Remind me to call you in as a substitute if I ever fall ill. Your classmates may enjoy your teaching over mine." He went on as he pulled out assorted vials. Phoenix merely nodded and started to make her way out. "Miss Remington, I wasn't done talking to you." Phoenix stopped mid-step and turned right back around. "I was going to ask you if you wanted to help me in my demonstration tomorrow of this. I feel as though it's unnecessary to test your knowledge on this potion." Snape saw the girl's eyes light up at a chance to stand out amongst the rest of the students.

The next day Phoenix almost laughed at the looks of hatred Slytherins' faces as she walked to the front of the class to assist Snape. Occasionally she would catch eyes with Ron or Harry, both of which she knew didn't trust Snape much, somewhat glaring at their professor. Phoenix held true to her professor's projections and held up a vial of orange liquid. "Now, this is how you make an instant fire potion," Snape said as he took the vial and held it up, "Miss Remington has seemed to prove that she has quite the understanding over most of you. So if you wish to stand up here as an assistant perhaps you should put in more work." Snape's last words were aimed mostly at Harry and Ron, both of whom were mixing a yellow-ish potion.

As class was dismissed Phoenix took her time packing up. Once again she approached her professor, though she walked with a little more confidence. "Professor?" She asked as she stood in front of his desk. Slowly the chair he sat in turned around, "Yes Miss Remington?"

Phoenix made eye contact with her professor, "I appreciated what you did for me today. I never quite have a time to shine." Snape nodded and tried to hide his frown. The truth was that he felt sympathy for this girl. He too had walked around Hogwarts with a friend who had bigger and better things to do. He too was alone most of the time. And he too, had hardly ever had a chance to shine. "Miss Remington, it's Friday evening. Why aren't you running off to be with your piers?" Snape knew why and he felt terrible for making his lonely student say it. "I don't really have any friends, Professor. I mean I'll always be friends with Ron. But he's been trying to show up Harry lately. And I really don't feel like getting published alongside Harry and Hermione. They all do their own thing anyway." Phoenix found a small crack in the dungeon floor to concentrate on while she spoke.

"Miss Remington, why don't come take a seat and help me grade your class. I'm sure this isn't your idea of fun, but believe it or not I could use some company." Phoenix immediately moved her eyes back to her professor and stared at him, sure that she had heard him wrong. "I promise I won't bite." He smirked as he held out a quill to her. Phoenix took it and walked slowly behind the desk to sit next to her professor. Why he was being anything by cynical and rude she didn't know, but she wasn't about to pass up a chance to be amongst other people.


	2. Chapter 2: Hot for Teacher

**AN: Whew! It's been too long! I won't bore you dear readers about the details, instead here's chapter two! :D**

One of Phoenix's favorite hobbies was wandering around the campus just before the sun rose. From the moment she was born many nights were lost to insomnia. As a child, her mother would lull her to sleep with a song some sirens had once taught her. Occasionally Phoenix would sing it to herself, and her mother would force it upon her during holidays, but she enjoyed having the latest hours all for her. The fire head hardly ever felt tired and she consumed so much tea that her body thrived on the caffeine.

On this particular morning the sky was changing into beautiful shades as the leaves adopted new colors. Fall was Phoenix's favorite season. The red leaves almost matched her hair and the weather was just right. The sun was now beginning to push its way into the sky and the Hufflepuff stopped to admire it.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice came from behind her. Phoenix turned to see Cedric Diggory standing behind her. His eyes had deep purple bags, a five o'clock shadow was growing along his handsome jaw line, and his clothes seemed pretty sloppy. It was as if he hadn't done anything to his appearance since the previous day. And by the smell that wafted into her nose, Phoenix could tell he hadn't showered since probably yesterday morning.

"I didn't know that any fourth year besides Harry was cool enough to talk to a champion like you." She couldn't fight the smile on her face as she turned to greet her friend. "Like I'd let all my progress go out the window," Cedric replied with his heart melting smile.

During her first year, Cedric had taken Phoenix under his wing and helped her make a name amongst the Hufflepuffs, though they were all very friendly already. It was the mere sight of her as a first year standing up against the wall while her piers chatted with the older honey badgers that determined Cedric to befriend the girl. Which was extremely difficult since she constantly busied herself with homework or personal experiments, most of the time she mumbled when she talked to someone, and absolutely refused to make eye contact. Though Phoenix was different around her life long friend.

Ron was the only person for half a year that would be able to get the girl to talk at a normal volume or speak more than six words. When Harry and Hermione came about Phoenix would revert back to her normal self and usually hide behind a book about the history of something. It also didn't help that Ron and Phoenix couldn't sit next to each other during meals. Even if they could, as the year progressed, Ron and Phoenix saw less and less of each other.

Cedric slowly befriended the socially awkward girl. For months he would simply sit wherever she was in complete silence. One day she asked why he always chose to sit near her. Cedric replied that not only did he feel that it was his duty to help her feel like a Hufflepuff, but he wanted to befriend her. Phoenix was taken by surprise but gave Cedric a chance. Three years later she was one of the best known representatives of the Hufflepuff house. She was patient, loyal, hard working, and kind. Her intelligence was no secret and while her best friend ran off with his Gryffindor friends, Phoenix spent her days in the common room assisting her fellow badgers.

Today, Cedric stood beside one of his closest friends to discuss an issue. He had gone to her before. Often they had talks about why he felt that he failed his father and why Phoenix was so awkward. "Nix, I need help." Cedric said as he leaned on the railing. "Don't we all?" Phoenix replied as she did the same. "No, seriously. This whole champion thing… I can't do it. I feel like in the pit of my stomach something bad is going to happen. I know nothing. I'm losing sleep over it. I don't know what to do!" Cedric hardly ever was upset, and Phoenix was always surprised when he was. Her friend slid down the side of the railing and onto the floor. He was a mess. She tried her best to sooth him and tell him it was because he was frightened. She told him that he was chosen because he was the best of the best. Yes, something odd was happening with Harry being selected, but hey, even magic makes mistakes sometimes. Nothing evil was going to happen.

"Do you really think so?" Cedric asked and Phoenix nodded. "Come on Cedric, look at you. You're delusional from the lack of sleep! Get yourself up and let's get you to bed. I'll tell the others that you're resting up for the first challenge if anyone asks." The badger held out her hand to her comrade, who smiled and took it. Soon the two were standing before the stack of barrels that hid their common room. Phoenix stepped forward to tap out the needed rhythm. The barrel second from the bottom and middle opened to reveal the passage. There seemed to be a lack of care for other genders being in gender designated dorm rooms. Professor Sprout simply told each first year class that if they didn't get caught doing anything there was no harm. The fire head almost laughed as she recalled that awkward conversation from her first year, but instead hauled Cedric to his bed. It was Saturday so the boys had either gotten up a little after dawn or were sleeping in late. Cedric was laid on his bed and told that he must shower after he woke-up, the smell could only be ignored for so long. He nodded sleepily and mumbled out a thank you before falling asleep. Phoenix turned and made her way out into the castle.

She made her way to the Great Hall and sat down to eat breakfast with her fellow badgers. Phoenix found herself in a fascinating debate about which pet could would be most effected by a forgetfulness potion when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see Neville Longbottom standing directly behind her with his usual nervous and clueless expression.

"Hello Neville," Phoenix greeted him with a smile. Neville looked around nervously and leaned down before speaking, "Phoenix, I need your help. It's an emergency." With kind being in the motto for a Hufflepuff, she resisted rolling her eyes. This was a sentence that Neville said at least once a week. She turned to her comrades to excuse herself and walked out with Neville following her.

"What is it this time Neville?" The badger asked while chewing on a pastry she had grabbed. Neville blushed in embarrassment and looked down, "I've got boils…" Phoenix sighed and made Neville show her where.

"Good god Neville! Have you gone to the infirmary?" Phoenix asked while examining the nasty boils on him. "No…" Neville mumbled. The Hufflepuff shoved the last bite of pastry in her mouth and stood back up, "Do I want to even ask?" Her friend's blush deepened and she heard a mumbled no. With a sigh she patted his shoulder, "Give me thirty minutes. I'll meet you in the library with the cure, okay?" Neville nodded and hugged her, then he ran off to hide his disgusting boils for fear of being teased. Phoenix turned and made her way towards the dungeons below the castle.

Once she was in front of the potions room, the badger took out her wand and waved it at the door. She had done this many times before and knew exactly how not to be caught, by whispering.

"Alohomora!" She whispered and the door clicked open. Phoenix never understood why Harry and Hermione always yelled their spells when sneaking around. On her rare accompaniments she would always whisper her spells. This is why no one knew that there was a hidden accomplice in some of the trio's adventures, and she preferred to keep it this way. When the door was secured, and she was sure there was no one around, Phoenix began gathering ingredients to make the cure for poor Neville.

Snape was enjoying his day away from his students by doing his favorite activity, reading about the Dark Arts by his fireplace. He was in the middle of an updated history of the Darks Arts when he was interrupted by a timer going off on the fireplace. The professor bookmarked his page and made his way towards his classroom. Upon coming out of his hidden entrance behind a fake bookshelf he found a peculiar sight, a certain Hufflepuff was bent over a cauldron with a pocket watch out. He assumed by the way she was staring at it that she was timing something. He stepped quietly forward until he was behind his student and leaned over until his mouth was by her ear, "Well hello Miss Remington."

Phoenix jumped so much she almost lost count. She waited until her watch counted out three minutes and added the Horned Slugs and Porcupine Quills to say anything. "Hello Professor Snape," was all the student said as she began stirring. She tried her best to remain calm and collected after the scare, and hoped Snape hadn't seen the way his breath had made her spine shiver. It had almost felt good, if it weren't from her potions instructor. Phoenix gave one more wave of her wand before bottling the Cure for Boils.

Snape simply sat down at a table and watched his student as she cleaned her utensils and began riffling around in her bag. "I assure you that when I use your lab that I replace all ingredients used. Dad always said it was rude not replace what you used." Snape gave a, "Mhmm," as a response. The room was silent while Phoenix finished cleaning. As she was placing the vile in her bag, Snape spoke once more, "How often do you use my classroom unsupervised?"

Phoenix wasn't afraid of consequences for her actions. She knew that if any points were taken away from her house it wouldn't matter, Hufflepuffs never won anyways. It wouldn't matter anyway, her fellow badgers would commend her for helping another in need. "Only in emergencies when I can't get to my set in my room." Snape said nothing more. Just as the badger was about to exit he called her back over. "Miss Remington, I know of your father and his work. To be honest, I could care less if you use my classroom. You never gave away that you've used it and know what you're doing, but please feel free to say hello," the last part was almost sarcastic, "I believe you owe me now for being so rude."

Phoenix gulped and prepared for the worst detention she could imagine. Instead, Snape pointed over at another bubbling cauldron, "You see that over there? Have you ever noticed that I hardly come to dinner when it's not a special occasion? I hate all the noise and chatter of everything that happens, and some of your other professors are just boring. I prefer to eat in solitude in here. Why don't you keep an old man company tonight?" Phoenix looked into her professor's eyes and could see the blatant loneliness in them. She became overcome with guilt and thought of the Great Hall. _'Why am I not creeped out? Perhaps because I know Professor Snape better. I mean look at him, this is just pitiful. He's begging for company! And he is right about the Great Hall…' _She thought to herself before nodding and smiling at her professor, "It would settle my guilt for using your equipment to join you. Please, allow me to go give this remedy to the person who needs it and I will return, Professor." Snape nodded and made a shooing motion with his hand.

Phoenix went over what had just happened as she ran to the library. "What the bloody hell just happened?" She mumbled to herself. Neville peaked out from behind a bookcase and motioned to her. She ran over and handed over the vile. He downed it and in moments his boils began to fade. "Thank you Phoenix," he smiled and hugged her, "Here. For your troubles, as usual. You're the best!" Neville placed five Galleons in her hand and walked away. Phoenix pocketed the money and walked farther back in the library. There, a sixth year Hufflepuff was sitting at a table scribbling something in a notebook. Phoenix took her seat next to the older badger and cleared her throat.

The other girl flipped her head up and looked to who had sat next to her, "Hello my dear! How are you?" Phoenix smiled and sighed, "Casper… can I tell you something weird? Considering you lost interest in your notes a long time ago." Casper blushed while covering trying to cover up the repeated phrase _Fred + Casper _scribbled in the margins of her notes. "What's on your mind?" Phoenix leaned her head against her one girl friend's shoulder and relented what had happened in the potions room, even the way her spine shivered at Snape's breath. Casper sat back and pushed her dirty blonde hair away from her thick rimmed glasses. "Hmm… you want my honest opinion?" Phoenix nodded eagerly, her eyes begging for direction. Casper began pointing in the air in front of her as if choosing her words. Finally she spoke, "Phoenix, my darling, my little fourth year… I believe you are what the muggles call hot for teacher." Casper's younger friend stared blankly at her. The elder sighed and began to explain, "I don't know if it's loneliness or you're his favorite or what, but you have a crush on your professor." Phoenix still stared blankly at Casper, who explained three more times before slamming her notebook in between them.

"Okay, one more time." Casper turned to a clean page and wrote in large script _Fred + Casper_. "You see this?" She asked as she held it up to the younger badger. Phoenix nodded and watched Casper cross out both names, replacing Fred with Snape and Casper with Phoenix. To stretch the point further, she decorated the names with a heart with an arrow going through it. It took drawing a dragon blowing fire on the heart for the light bulb to go off over Phoenix's head. "Ya know, for someone who's so smart… you're just dumb with love." Phoenix looked down and blushed a deep red.

"Hey girl, it's okay. It's just a crush, don't worry! One day you'll meet a strapping young man who will sweep you away on his broom!" Casper patted her friend's shoulder and began fantasizing about Fred doing just that to her. Phoenix decided to take her leave since Casper now had a blank look on her face and a happy giddiness in her coffee colored eyes. The badger made her way back down towards the dungeon and stopped right outside the classroom door, where she began hyperventilating. Casper held a torch for Fred since before Phoenix had even received her acceptance letter. Whether or not Fred returned those feelings was unknown to her, but Casper knew more about relationships. _'Bloody hell! What if I have a crush on my teacher? Damn it!'_ Phoenix mentally kicked herself, what the hell was wrong with her? She managed to calm down a few minutes later and buttoned up her sweater a couple more buttons, then she entered the room.

Snape looked up the door as Phoenix entered. He said nothing and looked back down at the stew he had made. Phoenix simply took a seat across from her professor and began eating. Amongst the very small talk made and the eating, Phoenix began to feel less dizzy. By the time she had finished her meal and made her way to bed she came to realize that Casper had gotten into her head. _'Silly Phoenix! You don't like Snape! You're just a teacher's pet!'_ She smiled in relief as she crawled into bed, no longer nervous or panicked. Phoenix Remington wasn't in love, she was just a suck up.


	3. Chapter 3: I hate you, Harry Potter!

**AN: Well hello! punctual, aren't I? Enjoy this my darlings! Thank you for all the love you've given my work, it brings a smile to my face and inspires me to continue writing :) Reviewing and sharing would be appreciated!**

In the following weeks after the dinner with Snape, Phoenix did her best to keep her distance. Even if she didn't have a crush on her professor, she felt it best to let any sort of heat between them cool. Though without spending time grading papers or working on potions in the classroom, life proved to be boring. She had desperately hoped that the fight between Ron and Harry would make Ron gravitate back towards his abandoned friend. It seemed that nowadays Ron spent time with only two girls: Ginny and Herminie. Herminie was wrapped up in trying to get Harry and Ron to make up, so Phoenix didn't even bother to ask her. When she turned to Ginny, Phoenix was delighted to be promised that it would be brought up to Ron. Though the elder girl quickly lost hope since Ginny spent most of her days stuttering to Harry and then hiding from him. In short, Ron would probably forget that Phoenix was alive.

As a result of the lack of help from the Gryffindor house, Phoenix went back to spending all of her time amongst the other Hufflepuffs. Most days she yearned for the awkwardness between her and Snape to die. She loved Casper and Cedric as well as all the Hufflepuffs, but Snape just carried a different mind set. Casper generally dragged her friend along to talk to the ghosts of Hogwarts or obsessed over Fred while Cedric had continuous mental breakdowns about being a champion. Phoenix found herself yearning to walk down to the dungeon to have a conversation about something that didn't pertain to being a champion, ghosts, or someone she considered a brother.

"Phoenix! Snap out of it!" The fire head shot up as a flying bag of parchment and books hit her. "Ow," she mumbled and rubbed her head. It seemed that Phoenix had zoned out amongst the chatter in her room between the other girls. She resumed her spot on her bed to watch the other girls show off their Yule Ball dresses. Phoenix decided to keep her dress a secret until the actual ball. She favored the art of surprise and showing it off would just ruin it.

After every girl had shown off her dress the usual discussions that they had began. The girls of Hufflepuff seemed to be more level headed and normal than the other three houses. Ravenclaw girls preferred their studies, Gryffindor girls were either dumb as a doorknob or being courageous in some way, and the Slytherin girls were just bitches. Most of the conversations would bounce from schoolwork to letters from home to their favorite topic, boys. Someone would kick off the conversation by talking about a rumor or their own life. More girls would continue to chime in until everyone was contributing. Phoenix was actually interested for most of the conversations. She liked feeling happy for other people and having insight on people's lives. She would contribute when someone asked about what her parents were up to and would just listen when everything turned romantic. Only Casper's voice could make her pay attention.

"I swear he winked at me. But he's also such a jokester and I can't tell when he's serious," Phoenix overheard as she came back to reality. Most of the time she felt pity for Casper and would sometimes try to find out if Fred even remotely liked her, but the badger had just about had it hearing about the Weasley family. Before Casper could follow up on their previous conversation, Phoenix closed her eyes and forced herself to sleep.

The method worked until about three in the morning when she was shaken awake. Her eyes snapped awake and the girl was ready to spring on whoever had dared to wake up her rare sleep.

The room was dead silent. Every girl was in bed and fast asleep. To her left, Phoenix could hear Casper mumbling in her sleep about riding unicorns while shooting confetti from her wand, she always did have the strangest dreams. Somewhere else in the room came the soft, high pitched snore of Tara Beasley. Phoenix was almost convinced that she had just simply woken up when she noticed the dark figure standing on the other side of her bed. She felt a scream coming up until the figure stepped into the moonlight from the window. The badger sighed in relief when she saw it was Cedric. He said nothing but motioned for her to follow him to the common room. Phoenix silently followed him to the couch in front of the fireplace.

Nothing needed to be said. Phoenix opened up her arms and Cedric fell in them. Since Phoenix stood at about '5"4, Cedric had to contort his body to rest his head against her shoulder. She in return did her best to comfort her friend. Often, the badger would find him staring into space and mumbling about what first challenge would be. He kept a brave face during school and broke down in the late hours of the night. _'Poor Cedric. He thinks he's weaker than he is. All this worry is making him delusional. I know it's wrong… but he needs to find out what the first challenge is. He won't make it to it if he doesn't know. I need to help him…' _Phoenix thought while she rubbed Cedric's back and let him have his moment. Eventually his shoulders stopped shaking and he gathered himself enough to go to bed, though he would fall into a restless sleep for the remainder of the night. Phoenix decided to get ready for her classes, not bothering to try her luck at more sleep.

Harry was making his way to his Herbology class when a soft voice came from behind him, "Harry. Let's be partners today." He turned around to see Phoenix and nodded eagerly. He became overjoyed at his decision when Professor Sprout announced what they would be doing. "Today we will be working with these," Sprout pointed to the plants in front of the students, "Bubotubers. They need squeezing. You will collect the pus." Phoenix decided to seize the rare opportunity to talk to Harry, "Harry, how are you taking being a champion?" She asked tentatively. She was patient and would wait for the opportunity to really ask what was needed.

Harry looked up from his attempt to squeeze out the pus, "Um… it's been okay. You know, besides Ron hating me… and the whole school." Phoenix leaned over to help Harry squeeze the pus out, "Would you like to visit the Hufflepuff common room? Not many people are in there during the day," She looked around before speaking in a low tone, "I need to speak to you about personal matters." Harry's face became serious and he nodded. Truth was that he really needed to talk too.

Harry met Phoenix by the staircase after quickly eating lunch. He enjoyed having an excuse to visit another common room, and get away from the dreadful taunting he faced. He found his friend leaning against the wall reading a book titled _Dragons: Friend or Foe? _"Did your mom send that to you?" Phoenix looked up and smiled at Harry, "Yeah. She figured I'd read everything else so she sent me this. I think she hopes I'll tame dragons on day like her," She said as she bookmarked her page and stuck it amongst her other books. Harry nodded, "Must be nice." Phoenix gave Harry a sad smile and put a hand on his shoulder. To avoid any more talk of his parents, she pointed a head and began walking, "We should get going. I bet you're excited to see a new common room." Harry became confused when Phoenix didn't walk up the stairs, but he followed her to the lower levels of the school. He was surprised when they came upon the entrance and Phoenix couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face when they entered the common room.

"Tea?" She asked and Harry nodded. He took a seat on the while his companion prepared two tea cups. An air of awkwardness pushed its way between them. Usually Ron was the medium for Phoenix and the world, no one ever had a one-on-one conversation with the girl. And everyone knew that Snape favored the badger, which worried Harry that he'd lose Phoenix as a friend. He dreaded the thought of the innocence, quiet girl becoming a hateful, angry Snape-a-like.

Phoenix came over to the couch and handed Harry his tea with a smile. They sipped in silence wondering who would break it. Phoenix was the one who did, "Look Harry, I know we've never really talked without Ron but this is important. I wouldn't ask you to do this if it weren't for the sake of another." Harry motioned for her to continue while she paused. "I don't know about you but Cedric is just having a dreadful time with this whole champion thing. I'm doing the best I can to console him but it's just not enough," She paused to wipe a tear threatening to form, "Please Harry. If you know anything please tell him. He needs it." Harry took Phoenix's cup when she began shaking. He then pulled Phoenix into a hug, "I promise when I find something I'll tell him. I think Viktor and Fleur know something and Hagrid told me to come out with my invisibility cloak, so I think I'm going to find out something." Phoenix could feel his arms tightening around her tiny body, "I'm sorry." Harry let go when she gasped for air and moved to the other side of the couch, "Herminie isn't really one for hugging and I needed that. I'm sure you've had enough of everyone's problems but I… I just can't. This is eating away at me too… Everyone hates me, Phoenix."

To be quiet honest, Phoenix didn't particularly know how to calm Harry. This was the first time she had seen fear and sadness in his eyes. Usually he was heroic and brave, he lead each adventure fearlessly. But everyone deserved a time to break down, and Phoenix was happy to be the comfort. It actually made her respect Harry a little more. Ron had once told her that her hugs absorb sadness, so she hugged Harry again and laid her head on his shoulder. She needed this too. Cedric needed all the help and never left enough time for her to relent her torn up emotions. Not that she couldn't blame Cedric.

"It's going to be okay Harry. You've faced Voldemort, what, three times now? You helped your godfather escape from Azkaban. You went into the Chamber of Secrets. You are the boy who lived. Three measly challenges should be nothing." Harry smiled and put his arm around Phoenix to hug back, "You think so?" She nodded in response, "You survive Snape's class and he hates you. Common, you can do this." Phoenix scowled like Snape and crossed her arms, "Now Mister Potter, if you expect to pass these challenges, let alone my class, then I suggest you get your head out of the clouds and pay attention." Harry started laughing, which made her unable to hold the scowl.

The fourth years made their way back towards the stair case, making small talk along the way and acting a little more like friends. When they reached their destination Phoenix hugged Harry one more time before parting ways. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me," She whispered and then kissed him on the cheek. Harry's face lit up, "Oh no problem! I'm sure Cedric will get better when I tell him. I know I will," He rubbed the back of his neck and tried to get the blush under control.

They waved at each other before parting ways but were stopped by a flashing light. "Oh what a scandal! Harry's getting someone on the side! What's your name dear?" The two were stopped by none other than Rita Skeeter, both of which weren't fond of her. Rita seemed upset by Phoenix's silence, "Come on sweetie, what's your name? Are you in love with Harry Potter? Harry, is this revenge for Herminie playing with you and Viktor?" Harry began turning towards the staircase to make a run for it while Phoenix pushed between Rita and the photographer. "You are pathetic!" She yelled over her shoulder and walked on. Harry took the opportunity to dash up the stairs. Little did anyone know that another person was watching from the shadows of the room. A black pair of eyes filled with anger, sadness, and hurt before becoming confused.

The next morning Harry approached Phoenix while she was eating breakfast. He said nothing while handing her a copy of _The Daily Prophet_. When she gave him a confused look he flipped through it and pointed to an article titled, "I hate you, Harry Potter!" Phoenix quickly read through the article. She learned that to get revenge on Herminie for playing him with Viktor Krum, Harry had started seeing an unknown red head who became upset when she found out she wasn't the only one. Right next to the article was a snapshot of Phoenix kissing Harry on the cheek. "The only thing that's keeping me from exploding right now is the ridiculousness of this story and the fact that I take a great picture. Does she not understand that I called her pathetic?" Harry didn't seem as light hearted. He probably thought this would hurt his chances with Cho Chang, who Phoenix had learned yesterday was the object of Harry's affection.

"Harry, maybe this will make her want you. You're a ladies man now! Besides, any intelligent person knows not to believe any of this." Phoenix frowned at her failed attempt to cheer Harry up. He only held eye contact with her and made her follow his eyes right to Ron's glare. "The one acknowledgement I get him since this whole thing started is a glare because he thinks I'm messing around with you. I don't even care about her right now, I'm sure the first article ruined any chances," Harry sighed.

Phoenix shoved the rest of her food in her mouth and stood up, "You really want to piss him off? Cause that's the first acknowledgment I've gotten all year and I've had just about enough of all of this." Harry cocked his head to the side. Phoenix smiled evilly and took his hand. The two made their way out, Phoenix willing to sacrifice her invisibility to the whispers for the glare on Ron's face. Harry just let Phoenix do what she thought would work and hoped it'd make Cho jealous. He admired Phoenix sacrificing her privacy to give Herminie a break. They held hands all the way to potions, where unfortunately Snape saw. No doubt he had read the article. The badger hoped her professor didn't believe it. _'He probably didn't even read it. He hates Harry. But if he saw the picture… why do I care? …because Phoenix, you want his approval.' _To her dismay, Snape didn't acknowledge her the whole class. And when she passed by his desk, she swore he was glaring at her.

When she left the classroom two hands grabbed her and pulled her to the side. Phoenix looked up and saw Casper. "Okay, I know this isn't real. So what, you're trying to get Ron's attention? Do you want him to be jealous? Cause you're getting the whole school's attention!" Phoenix looked around before answering, "I want Ron to notice me again. I'm a little upset he's forgotten about me. I just wanted to add insult to injury. Spur of the moment decision." Casper laughed and put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder, "You really don't know how to get a guy's attention, do you?" Snape happened to walk out into the hallway when Phoenix looked up. He avoided eye contact with her and walked the other way, "I guess I don't."

Later that day Cedric came running down the hall towards the common room. He grabbed Phoenix's arm and dragged her to the side. She was starting to wonder where everyone got the idea to pull her away from her destination today. Cedric looked around and began speaking in a hushed tone, "Phoenix! Harry told me what the first challenge is going to be!" Phoenix smiled from ear to ear. Harry had held up his promise and now Cedric could breath easy. His smile wasn't fake anymore, he didn't look exhausted, and later that night he slept easy. That right there was worth being shoved into the lime light.


	4. Chapter 4: Let Me be Your Rope

**AN: Hello once again my darlings! I wrote this chapter as quick as I could just for all of you! But I do have bad news. I'll be going on a trip from Friday to Tuesday, which means I'll be away from my computer. I promise I'll post as soon as I can when I return! As usual, I'll be watching for all the love that inspires me to continue on! :)**

Phoenix watched nervously as Harry stepped into the ring to face his dragon. She had cheered wildly while Cedric had faced his and was happy to see that he was victorious. Normally, she knew nothing of what Harry was involved in and just stepped in when her services were called upon, but being raised by a dragon trainer gave her some insight on this one.

"COME ON HARRY! KILL THE BASTARD!" She yelled from the stands where she had just previously been holding onto Casper for dear life while Cedric did his challenge. Casper held up her binoculars to get a good view of the dragon Harry faced and then handed them to Phoenix, "So what's the odds on his?" Phoenix took a good look at the dragon and then shook her head, "Not so good. He's against a Hungarian Horntail. These things are vicious." Casper frowned and grabbed onto Fred's arm. The Weasley twins had been spending more time with the two girls lately, Phoenix suspected that it had something to do with Casper's forever burning torch for Fred.

"I think Harry will do just fine. You know all the crazy things he's done since he's got here. I'm sure he's got a trick up his sleeve," Fred did his best to get Casper to calm down so she wouldn't have his arm in a death grip. "You think so? I like him and he's Phoenix's friend. Any friend of hers' is a friend of mine! And I don't want to see my friends die by a horrible, probably bloody, death from a dragon." Casper looked over at Phoenix, who was looking through the binoculars again as Harry began the challenge, "Hungarian Horntail," The younger girl corrected. Casper whimpered, she hated blood and tragedy despite her obsession with the paranormal. Though she could never really look at Nearly Headless Nick come to think of it. Phoenix had a cool air about her when dragons were involved in anything. She had ridden one when she just months old and her mother had raised her to never fear the creatures.

Fred put his arm around Casper and tried to keep her calm, "Don't worry. I'm sure Phoenix can confirm that Harry will be okay." He gave Phoenix a glare that she ignored. Instead, she kept looking through the binoculars to see the fight going on below them, "Oh he'll be fine. That only reason why these dragons are so pissed off is because they're nesting. See?" She pointed to the golden egg resting under the dragon, "They think those eggs are their unborn young. If they weren't nesting then they'd probably be peaceful. Well, as peaceful as dragons can be." Casper sighed in relief and continued to lean on Fred. Phoenix continued looking through the binoculars, completely wrapped up in the challenge until she heard George let out a snore. "George! Wake up! You're missing the challenge!" George shot up after being hit with the binoculars and did his best to stay awake, letting out bored yawns throughout the challenge.

The fight stretched on. Phoenix was beginning to lose hope. She could see Casper hiding in Fred's shoulder, peaking out with one eye. George was now leaning against the badger's shoulder soundly sleeping. She huffed and went back to looking. "Come on Harry, I know you've got a trick up your sleeve…" She mumbled to herself. As if on queue, Harry raised his wand and his broom flew into the ring. "Ha! What did I tell you guys!" Casper shot out of her seat and began cheering wildly for Harry. George sat up and became engaged in the competition. Everyone was now going wild and cheering, even Snape gave a small clap for Harry. Phoenix had been periodically looking at Snape with binoculars through the entire event. She still hadn't spoken to him since the whole Rita Skeeter incident, though that had blown completely over. He avoided eye contact and rarely picked her in class. She had thought many times about approaching him after class and trying to talk to him, but she knew better. Somehow she'd have to regain Snape's favoritism. But her main worry was fixing her friendships before approaching her position of teacher's pet. Right now she threw every thought out the window and cheered wildly with Casper and the Weasley twins while Harry held up the golden egg.

Later on that week Phoenix was standing next to Harry outside Hagrid's home so class could begin. Harry was relenting to her about his frustrations with the egg because all it did was screech. "Phoenix you know about dragons. Do you have any ideas?" Harry and her had become as close as she and Ron once were. Since he was now in good graces with Ron, Harry had promised to see what he could do about her Ron situation. "Harry, I wish I had the answer. But that's beyond my knowledge. Maybe I can write to my mom about it. The most I can say is try to keep it warm or something, treat it like a mother dragon would. It's worth trying." Harry nodded, but when Phoenix looked over he was looking in a different direction. Before she could ask Harry pointed in the direction both of them were now looking. Phoenix leaned forward slightly and saw the impossible. Was Ron really waving at her? She gave a small wave back and smiled a little. The smile quickly faded when Ron mouthed out, "I'm sorry."

'_He mouths it? He put me through hell and he doesn't even verbalize it! I've been hurting for four years now and that's all I get! He doesn't even come over!' _The smile and wave were replaced by a scowl and Phoenix's middle finger. She regained her poise as Hagrid came through the woods so she missed the frown on Ron's face.

"Sorry for the delay everyone! But I was making the final arrangements for a very special class today!" Some moans came from the back of the group. The last time Hagrid made special arrangements was when they met Buckbeak. Phoenix remembered the adventure they had had with the Hippogriff. All that aside, she was excited to see what Hagrid had lined up.

The group began shuffling towards the woods and stopped when they came to a clearing. Standing there facing away from them was a woman with long red hair, almost the same color as Phoenix's. Phoenix's face immediately lit up. There was only one woman who could work leather pants and a tight tank top like that in her job.

The woman turned around and smiled at the crowd, "Hello Hogwarts students!" Her blue eyes lit up as she waved at the crowd. Three other people in the group knew who she was, the rest were silent. But every boy's mouth was practically on the ground. "Before we get started I'd like to introduce myself! My name is Harper Remington. Hagrid asked me to help teach you about dragons after the challenge earlier this week."

"You're a dragon trainer?" Someone from the back yelled and Harper nodded her head vigorously, "Oh yes! One of the best in the world! Give me a minute and I'll show you my skills!" Harper turned around and removed her wand from the holster on her thigh. With a wave of it a huge grey dragon flew down and landed in the clearing. The group was in complete awe.

"This my dears is the Ukrainian Ironbelly! He's part of the largest race of dragons around, and personally my favorite dragon. I have him here today because this particular race flies slower than other dragons but be aware! This is still a dragon and can destroy you if he pleases!" Harper smiled and pet the dragon, who let out a sound that meant it was happy. "I also have him here today because he hates new people riding him, so I'm going to teach you how to show a dragon that it'll bend to your will, and then we'll go flying." The group began humming with excitement over the prospect. Harper reached into her pocket and pulled out two pairs of gloves, "For this exercise I'll have a student join me. But for legal reasons with the school, I'll be calling on my daughter to assist me," she turned to Hagrid before he could protest, "I assure you that she knows her way around a dragon." She turned to the crowd and held out one of the pairs of gloves, "Phoenix darling! Come help me train a dragon. Dear Orville seems to have forgotten who you are." Phoenix handed her robes to Harry and stepped forward to put on the gloves. "Let's do this," She said while rolling up her sleeves.

Harper stood by the dragon while Phoenix crouched to the side of its head, "Phoenix will be demonstrating while I explain how to break a dragon's will. First you must jump on its head." Taking her cue, Phoenix leapt onto the dragon. It began to thrash around and try to buck her off. But she held steady and waited until Harper gave the next instructions. "Now what she needs to do it grab the longest part of its ears and yank as hard as she can. Eventually the dragon will yield to her." Phoenix did as instructed, and as she had done at home, and pulled as hard as she could. She couldn't stop herself, the anger from Ron, Snape, Rita Skeeter, and her inability to let anything out clashed together and in one pull that almost ripped the dragon's ears off. Orville howled but succumbed to the pull, dropping its head and letting out a happy noise when Phoenix pet his head. "And that's how you break a dragon's will!" Harper clapped her hands together and smiled at her daughter.

Far from the clearing within the offices of Hogwarts sat Harper's husband and Phoenix's father, Felix. He sat in a chair with a tea cup in hand. His blue eyes filled with hurt as he spoke to his friend and colleague, Severus Snape. Felix had taken Harper's extended stay at Hogwarts to speak to his friend. Snape sat behind the desk with his fingers laced together, listening intently to his friend's story. They had met years ago when Felix was finishing his studies in potions. He had had to mentor under a master of potions and had been referred to Snape, who was just beginning his job at Hogwarts. Felix had been a Ravenclaw so Snape welcomed him into the classroom. They had become friends after Felix had impressed Snape with his potions abilities. Since then, Snape had worked together with Felix on research, published papers, and books. Her father's high esteem had made Snape like Phoenix ever so slightly in her first year.

Right now wasn't a time for nostalgia or joking. Felix was sharing another terrible misfortune in the Remington family. Snape knew that around the time Harry Potter became the boy who lived Harper suffered the tragic loss of her sister to the dark lord. Felix had lost his parents to Voldemort at just around the same time. They had hidden in the Weasley's burrow during Harper's pregnancy and resurged once Voldemort disappeared. Today, Felix informed Snape that Harper's mother had fallen ill to a poison she had ingested decades ago and recently passed on. "It slowly ate her up over decades. She was in pain for that long and never told us until this past year. She never wanted to worry us." Snape topped off Felix's tea for him and frowned, "Couldn't you make a remedy? Or at least something that could make it even slower?" Felix shook his head, "The poison can't be cured and by the time she told us it was too late to try to find a remedy."

Snape had kept his distance from Phoenix lately for reasons he didn't even know. He just became upset whenever he was near her, but now she was at the forefront of his mind, "Does Phoenix know?" Felix looked out the window and ran a hand through his orange-blonde hair, "Harper was going to tell her after the lesson. We thought about taking her out of school, but there's just so much hurt at home. We're hardly there anyways. It's better she's here. She's actually the reason why I came to you." Snape leaned back and raised an eyebrow, "Why me Felix? You know students don't favor me."

"Phoenix does. Since her first year she's talked about how much of a great professor you are. You don't scare her like you do others, she admires your intelligence and positions abilities. She could give a rat's ass about anything else. She's read all the work you've done with me, you know." Snape almost felt embarrassed that one of his students praised him so much, especially one with a potions master as a father. "Severus, we've been friends for almost twenty years. You're one of the last people I trust now that Gwendolyn is gone. Normally we'd trust her to watch Phoenix…"

"What is it you want from me? You know I'll help you in anyway I can, Felix." The younger man smiled sadly, "Watch over her. Please. I've been helping Harper through this and I've been so upset myself, she was like a mother to me." Snape nodded and sipped the rest of his tea, "I will do my best to make sure she's okay."

"Severus… you should know… I'm sure you've gathered that Phoenix is shy and tends to be quiet," Snape nodded, "She doesn't know how to handle something like this. The other events happened before she was born. She grew up with this woman when Harper and I couldn't take her along. She will be destroyed by this. I know it's not in your nature… but she needs someone who can guide her through sadness like this. I know you've faced it time and time again…" Felix's voice trailed off when he saw Snape's eyes. "Please, treat my daughter like you'd treat her." Snape looked up at his friend and nodded, "I'll do my best. Phoenix will be in my care while you are away. But you must complete the healing process at home. I can only do so much." Felix nodded and shook hands with Snape.

Later on Snape was walking along the castle, enjoying the sunset when he came across a sight that could only be described as heartbreaking. Phoenix sat against the wall with her much too long hair curtaining her face. Her head was bent but Snape could tell she was crying by her shaking shoulders and the small puddle on the ground. He looked around before approaching the girl and laid a hand on her shoulder. Slowly, she lifted her head and looked back down when she saw who it was, "I don't need your pity."

Phoenix could feel the hand on her shoulder tighten. Then she felt a presence sitting next to her, hand still on her shoulder. "Miss Reming… Phoenix. I'm not here to give you pity. Trust me, pity is something I don't ever give someone. I know what has you upset. I-" Snape was interrupted by Phoenix throwing his hand off her shoulder. "Who told you? My father? You don't need to be involved in my family's business. Did he ask you to make sure I didn't go crazy? I don't need you overseeing every move I make, _Professor._" She spat the last word out just to spite him. She refused to make eye contact as she tied up her mane and stood up. Snape followed her movements and blocked her path, "I could easily ignore what your father requested. Just because he's a colleague of mine doesn't mean I have to do what he asks. But you're a… a good student and… it's not right for you to go through this alone." Snape awkwardly stuttered out the compliment. He waited for Phoenix's reaction.

She was silent for a few seconds before the flood burst forth, "I'm sorry." She mumbled through a silent sob and began shaking. She covered her face, embarrassed that the professor she held in such high esteem was seeing her break. Snape once again looked around before making his next move. Phoenix was surprised to feel arms around her and squeaked when a hand pulled her face into a chest. Snape held the sobbing girl as she broke, patting her back and telling her to let it out in between long moments of silence. "It's okay that you yelled, Phoenix. I know you're upset and I guess I haven't been the nicest person to you lately," Phoenix could've laughed at the last part of the sentence, but something about hearing her name kept her quiet, "I know you think no one understands this. But I do. I've lost many people in my life. I lost my mother when I was young and I've seen a lot of death since then." Phoenix looked up at Snape with tear filled eyes. The sight almost made Snape tear up. In his mind, he compared it to an ocean and waves. Her eyes were dark enough to be one and the tears kept crashing down her face. "I'm so sorry," She whispered.

Snape smiled and reached out to wipe away some tears, "It's quite alright. All of this was many years ago. Eventually you come to terms with what happens and let it help mold you into the person you are." Phoenix buried her head back into Snape's chest and began shaking again. "When will you visit her?" Phoenix looked back up with a fresh set of waves rolling down her cheeks, "During the summer holiday. By then we all hope to be in a place where we can be thankful she was with us when we truly needed her." Snape frowned, he could hear Harper's words coming through Phoenix's mouth.

"I know those aren't your feelings, Phoenix. I only promised your father because I care about your well being. You remind me of myself. Don't think I'm blind to what is happening. I see that Mister Weasley ignores you now. I too was ignored by a very close friend when I was your age. I held out hope for so long. Alone and crying out for help, but no one listened. The neglect lead me down a dark path for a while," he paused to lift Phoenix's chin up, "I will not allow you to go down that path. You are to come to me whenever you need to. When you're alone, sad, or you need to talk. You're walking on a slippery slope right now. Let me be the rope that secures you to the mountain." For a few moments Phoenix forgot that Snape was her professor. She only saw someone like her, who was reaching out to her. Who cared about what happened to her. She saw a man named Severus Snape, who's first name she only knew from her father's work. Phoenix took a step back and wiped away the remaining tears. "Does this mean I'm your favorite again?" She looked up and saw that Snape was actually smiling. This was a camera worthy moment, who ever saw Snape smile? He vaguely did it when someone was in pain, but never with a kind or gentle features like he did now. "Yes Phoenix, this means you're my favorite again."


	5. Chapter 5: A Phoenix Rises

**AN: I apologize to everyone! Between my trip, rearranging my room, and fixing my laptop my post got delayed. But here is my newest chapter! Yaaaay! :)**

Phoenix sat comfortably by her professor to watch the sun finish setting. By now her eyes had dried, though her heart was still heavy. Snape hadn't spoken yet. Instead he led her up the outside levels of the castle so she could see the sunset better. "Phoenix, you need to focus on something else for a distraction." She tilted her head and looked tiredly at her professor, "Like what?" Snape thought for a moment before speaking, "Well the Yule Ball is almost a month away. Why don't you spend your free time finding a date? Isn't that what girls your age do?" Phoenix smiled softly and looked ahead at the red and purple mixing together in the sky.

"Are you sure you want to do this? There's no going back after this." Phoenix looked at Casper and nodded. The two girls were standing in the Hufflepuff's girl's washroom. Phoenix reached up and pulled the hair tie out, letting the fire dance around her head until it settled at her hips. With all the time she spent studying and making sure no one went crazy, keeping up on her appearance hadn't been at the forefront of her thoughts. Casper picked up a pair of scissors and a comb, and began her work. Phoenix had taken Snape's advice to some extent. She didn't care about having a date for the Yule Ball but she did need to focus on something else. And after everything that had happened the past few months, it was time for her to focus on herself.

It all began with a haircut. Casper shaped Phoenix's hair so it fell at her back instead of the hips, and giving her a side bang for what she called "formation purposes." Some other girls had come in washroom to witness the haircut. Tara Beasley approached Phoenix as Casper was finishing up and offered to help Phoenix clean up her skin. The fire head had nodded and thanked Tara for the help. Phoenix was thankful for the kindness of the Hufflepuff house. By now they had all heard of the loss of Gwendolyn Radwan, who happened to be a beloved member of the Hufflepuff house. And when one of the girls was down, all the others rallied around her for support. If Phoenix was coping by taking care of herself then every girl was going to help her.

Later that day, Phoenix was spread out on her bed reading _What We Know About the Afterlife_ and blowing on her freshly painted nails. Casper had pointed out that the specks of black polish left on Phoenix's nails had been on there for three months. The badger smiled as she read, it felt good to maintain herself again. All the craziness of the year had distracted her and she was thankful for the support of her fellow badgers. She happened to look up to see Kira Monty and Josephine Sanders approaching her bed just as her thought finished. "Hi Phoenix," Kira smiled nervously, "I know we don't really know each other well… but the others were talking about you changing your look and well… we both have uniforms from last year that don't exactly fit…" Josephine held out the uniforms to Phoenix, who held up the shirt sitting on top of the pile. Kira was right, both girls had been scrawny the previous year and wearing these uniforms would certainly break dress code. Phoenix, on the other hand, wore hand-me-down uniforms from her family and Casper. Her '5"4 height and smaller body resulted in the clothes being ill fitting.

"It would be nice to not have to roll my skirt up every morning," Phoenix took the uniforms with a smile. "Remember, they need to be a little tight. That means they fit," Josephine teased while placing the uniforms on the bed. The younger badger stuck out her tongue and returned to her book.

The next morning almost felt _Daily Prophet _worthy to the fire head. It wasn't like those silly muggle movies where the nerd suddenly becomes the prom queen. Now that the rumor that she was romantically involved with Harry had died, people had gone back to barely noticing Phoenix. It made her happy that some things were back to normal, though turning a few heads when she walked into the Great Hall didn't hurt.

Whether or not people were staring, Phoenix didn't care. She still preferred that people not see her. What she did care about was the feeling she had when she woke up this morning. With all the draining emotions of the past few days sleep had actually found its way to her. And when Phoenix's eyes opened this morning she had felt the beginnings of a transformation. Every nerve from head to toe tingled with each step. Her eyes seemed to be a brighter shade of turquoise when she looked in the mirror. And while her chest had restricted ever so slightly in her better fitting uniform, she couldn't help but admire herself. With every step she could feel a sad, old Phoenix dying away. She felt herself turning to ash while she walked, and then when she walked into the Great Hall she felt something spectacular. From the ash a new Phoenix rose.

A beautiful Phoenix that was the brightest of reds flew into the air in the grandest fashion. The badger could feel it swoop around her and caw out as if to say, "The transformation is done! Show the world what a spectacle you are!"

Phoenix couldn't help but smile while eating. She had gotten a peak at her patronus once, but all she saw was a small, pathetic bird. Now Phoenix was certain that her patronus stayed true to her name. _'Oh how Nana Gwen would be proud of me! Perhaps she's the one who gave me the strength to transform…'_

Though the compliments from the Weasley twins, Harry, Hermione, and other assorted people were nice, and Cedric couldn't seem to stop staring, the only person who Phoenix cared for an opinion from surprised her. While she was extremely confused, the feeling of giddiness couldn't be contained as she walked into her potions class. _'Perhaps Casper is right. Maybe I have a small crush on Professor Snape.'_ She dared not to breath a word of that conversation to anyone and was relieved that Casper had forgotten it happened. Since the confrontation with Snape, Phoenix had been questioning her feelings. She had starting convincing herself that Casper was right when Snape began yelling at another student. _'Or maybe not. I don't think I could have feelings for someone so mean to everyone around him.'_

Phoenix thanked her father for his potions skills through the entire lesson. Her mind seemed to think that her feelings towards a teacher were more important. She had halfway convinced herself that the thought of a crush was silly when she accidentally connected eyes with Snape.

They held their gaze for a few moments before Snape snapped his head back towards the class, "And… and I'm positive none of you want to experience the excruciating pain of shards of glass in your eyes." Phoenix looked down to avoid blushing. She had made her teacher stutter. Not just any teacher, but the one teacher that always had himself together. She kept her head down for the rest of the class and didn't notice when the others shuffled out for the day. Phoenix just continued to sit there scribbling out extensive notes on today's lesson. "Phoenix, while I appreciate your in depth notes… I believe you're grading papers with me." A tingle ran down her spine at Snape's words. Once again he had spoken directly into her ear, perhaps revenge for making him stutter in class. He certainly remembered that his breath on her ear made her jump._ 'Just as I'm convincing myself that I'm _**not **_attracted to my professor.'_

The grading went by quietly. The two hadn't had a one on one conversation since the heartfelt talk they had had a few days ago. Phoenix was too embarrassed by her show of emotions and Snape had no idea of what to say to her. The silence broke when he put his quill down abruptly, "Phoenix, you know when I really started to enjoy your presence?" Phoenix looked up from reading Neville's chicken scratch, "You… you enjoy my presence?"

Snape rolled his eyes at the girl, "Of course I do. I wouldn't have you here after class, call you by your first name, or even begin to care about your wellbeing if I didn't enjoy you." Most of the time Snape forgot the Phoenix was a teenaged girl. And more often than that he forgot that she was a wallflower. _'Of course she's surprised someone wants her around.'_

He began to go back to grading papers until Phoenix nervously cleared her throat. "Ah, yes. I was going to say something," he dropped the quill again, "Do you remember when Professor Lockhart taught here?" Phoenix smiled sarcastically, "How could I? I was the only one who wasn't fawning over him." Snape almost chuckled at Phoenix's response, "I assume you remember my duel with him?" Phoenix nodded, "Well I remember looking out into the crowd of young girls rooting for Lockhart, and you know what I saw? I saw one second year girl giving me the thumbs up and telling me to beat his ass." Now Snape couldn't hold in a chuckle. Phoenix blushed and looked away, "Oh dear… I forgot I did that." The professor did his best to produce a smile at his student, "It was encouraging. And speaking of which, you want to talk about this?"

"I assume you're talking about my transformation, Professor." Phoenix sat a little taller and smiled to really show herself off. Finally, the opinion she wanted.

"Is that what you're calling it?"

"Doesn't a new phoenix rise from the ashes of the old one?"

"I thought I told you to get a date."

"How could I get a date when I was a mess inside and out? At least I look okay."

"Oh Phoenix, you're so good in the classroom. But you fail to follow directions out of it," Snape reached out and let a piece of fire slide through his fingers, "Although you do look nice."

"Thank you," Phoenix prayed that Snape couldn't hear her heart speeding up, "I assure you that I always listen to directions. You told me to focus on something so I focused on myself. And now I'll have a boy for this pointless ball." The room fell silent again. This was becoming too much for Phoenix. Her heart was going to fast and she was starting to swoon. The word professor was being repeated in her mind, but it failed. Him touching her hair was just too much.

On the way out of the room Snape stopped her one more time, "Remember Phoenix, attention is a double edged sword."

Phoenix turned around and made eye contact again, this time holding it, "You know what else is double edged?"

"What else?"

"Shards of glass in your eye." With that Phoenix turned around and left. Snape chuckled quietly before finally returning to his quill.


	6. Chapter 6: Attention is Double Edged

**AN: Hello everyone! :) As always, all your wonderful reviews bring me joy and happiness! So please, enjoy this next installment and feel free to share with your friends and loved ones. Updates coming soon!**

"Ugh! I hate it when it gets cold!" Phoenix hugged her arms to her body, "Why are we walking out here anyways? You know where it's warm? Inside the castle." Casper ignored her younger friend's complaints and skipped ahead of her, "I like it when it gets cold out! People start drinking hot chocolate, it's acceptable to wear long sleeves, there's snow, and most importantly there's no sweating!" The older badger grinned at the younger's scowl.

"If you keep that up, you'll turn into your favorite professor."

"Very funny."

"Lighten up, Nixie! You know why this season is the best?" Phoenix didn't bother to try to answer, "Cold winter means cuddle weather!" When her friend said nothing Casper slung her arm around Phoenix's shoulders, and began showcasing the couples walking around the campus. "Casper, I've supported your pining for Fred for three years now. But I really don't care for the weather or love. Now, if you're done here there's a warm common room with barrels of hot chocolate." Casper sighed and followed Phoenix.

"You know Phoenix, Casper has a point. The colder weather is quite nice." Both girls looked over their shoulders and smiled at Cedric, "And where are you going Mr. Diggory?" Cedric smiled back, "I like the formality, Casper. If you ladies must know, I'm off to practice my transfiguration." Sadly, Cedric had lost Casper's attention shortly after he began speaking. The Weasley twins had appeared and Casper was holding eye contact with Fred. "That's great Cedric. But if you'll excuse me, I have a personal victory to try to extort." With that, she was off in the twins' direction. But not before she spoke over her shoulder, "Phoenix, didn't you ask Cedric a few weeks ago to teach you to use transfiguration like he did?"

Phoenix silently cursed Casper. She knew her friend was trying to get more attention on the poor wallflower. _'Focus Phoenix, don't punish Cedric. He's your friend.'_

She smiled awkwardly at her friend. Social situations still weren't her forte. Books were still her preferred time passer and getting ahead in her classes still took priority. The only difference was a small beauty regiment was squeezed in now, and no one could master the art of fingernail painting while studying like she could.

"Well, if you're still interested… I'd be happy to help." Phoenix nodded and followed Cedric down towards an unused patch of land. "So is this what you do on your Saturdays now?" Phoenix took a seat on ground and watched Cedric changed an acorn hanging from a tree into an apple, "Well I'm a champion. I have to keep myself sharp! You never know." The remark made Phoenix smile. She was happy that Cedric had found peace. Now that he had made it through the first challenge everything seemed okay.

"Come now, it's not hard at all." Cedric pulled his younger friend up, making her squeak. He laughed at her reaction, making her giggle and cover her face. The older badger pointed his wand at a growing weed sprouting from the ground and transformed it into a beautiful black beauty.

"For the lovely lady," He smiled and placed the flower in Phoenix's hand, "Yes. I just happened to remember what your favorite flower is." Phoenix smiled and admired the flower, her childlike innocence kept her from seeing the flicker of affection in Cedric's eyes. Before she could look up to see it happening, Cedric's lips were on hers. Her eyes widened. She frantically tried to pull away.

Luckily, Cedric seemed to care what she wanted. "Cedric, no." Phoenix mumbled out and tried to back away. Cedric misunderstood and turned his head to the other side, assuming that's what she meant. This time Phoenix put her hands on Cedric's chest to hold him back, "Cedric! I said no!" The meaning behind her words finally made sense, "Oh god! Phoenix! I'm so sorry!" He turned from her in shame, "I thought… With all the change, I've just realized how beautiful you are. I'm so sorry!" Phoenix had no idea how to respond or act in this situation, she settled for gingerly placing her hand on Cedric's shoulder while keeping the farthest distance she could.

"Cedric, I'll forgive you. But you've said you think of me as a sister. Please, go back to that." Cedric grabbed her hand with both of his and looked deeply, and uncomfortably, in her eyes.

"I can't. How you've been this whole year. It's made me think of you differently. You're so beautiful and kind and an abundance of intelligence. And everyone ignores it. I don't see you as a sister anymore. I see you as a woman."

Phoenix pulled her hand back and held it to her chest as if it had been burnt, "The Weasley twins don't think of me like that. They have and always will think of me as a sister."

"Then they don't see or appreciate your beauty. Are you waiting on someone else? Ron? But you won't forgive him… Oh god, was that article true? Are you secretly dating Harry?"

Phoenix couldn't take the pathetic sight anymore, "I'm not waiting for anyone. I'm not sure where my feelings are lying right now but I know they don't lie with you. I think of you as a close and personal friend. I'm sorry Cedric," She turned her back to him, "You need to focus on other things. Find someone else who will take your affection. Until then, it's best we don't talk." With that she walked away, leaving the flower on the ground where it had dropped during the kiss. Cedric picked it up gently and crushed it in his palms.

Once again, someone had been watching from a distance. Phoenix seemed to have an unknown shadow. Though the shadow had only seen the kiss. It disappeared too soon. Now the shadow held a pale hand to the owner's heart, clutching as if the heart was suffocating. A fist slammed down on a nearby table. The mouth of the shadow began muttering that this was going to happen. The anger was the shadow's fault, it wasn't prepared fast enough. Now Phoenix would leave the shadow behind and walked into the light of Cedric Diggory's arms. Try as it might, the shadow only wanted Phoenix to walk into the darkness where it lived. It wanted her to walk right into its arms. The shadow wanted Phoenix's lips, smile directed at it, to hear that adore giggle directed at it. The only flowers she should have should be from the very hand clutching at its heart. Had the shadow stayed, it would've known that Cedric was feeling the very same thing.

"Wait, so he just kissed you?" Phoenix nodded and took a sip of her hot chocolate. The girls had run into each other after Phoenix had walked away from Cedric. Casper had decided to pay them a visit, hence the three cups of hot chocolate she was carrying. Now they sat on a stone bench watching the people around them. "I told him no. We're not speaking until he finds someone else to focus his affection on. It was just so awkward. And more importantly it didn't feel right." Phoenix downed the rest of her hot chocolate and picked up the cup that would have been Cedric's. "I hear ya, if there's no spark or fireworks. Then it's just not it." Both girls sat in silence sipping away at the coco. Deep talks with Phoenix generally got Casper thinking about something or other going on in her own life. Her bubbly personality changed often into a serious philosopher.

"Helloooo ladies!" The badgers looked up to see Fred and George standing before them. "Hello there you two, what do we owe this visit to?" Seeing two guys who actually did think of her as a sister made Phoenix smile. There was no way Fred or George could hold a romantic interest in her, they had all grown up together. Being that close for so long could really kill any romantic thoughts. "We're actually here for you two," Fred answered as both of them got on their knees, "I'm here to ask you! Casper Zimmerman!"

"And I'm here to ask you! Phoenix Remington!"

"Would you ladies do us the honor…"

"Of accompanying us to the Yule Ball?"

"We swear on the Weasley name to be gentlemen!"

"And to put our schemes to rest for a night!"

"To focus on you ladies!"

"So what do you say?" The twins finished together and stayed on their knees. Most people out on the campus had turned their attention towards the twins' yelling to watch. Casper threw her arms around Fred, "FINALLY!"

"I take that as a yes," Fred wrapped his arms around Casper and planted a kiss on her lips in front of at least half the school. Phoenix smiled at her friends and turned her attention towards the still kneeling George, "So why did you ask me?"

"I needed a date. Fred proposed the idea since you two are so close, practically like us except for the age difference. He was going to ask earlier but you were gone and there weren't enough people around. Besides, your hair is a different shade, I don't think people think we're related." Phoenix smiled and took George's hand, "George Weasley! How could I say no to such a proposal? It would be a privilege to accompany you to the Yule Ball!" She couldn't help but add to the fun. After the uncomfortable encounter today she needed a good laugh.

The fire head knocked on the door to her potions class later that day. She didn't really feel like eating with everyone else tonight. Cedric would make the Hufflepuff table awkward and watching Casper suck face with Fred almost killed her appetite. Instead, some of the house elves in the kitchen were happy to bring her some food to go to bring to her professor. She straightened her sweater and tank top while Snape crossed the room to answer and put on a big smile when he opened the door.

Snape scowled at the door, but softened when he saw it was Phoenix. "I brought dinner." She said while holding a large wrapped up container. "Come in." Snape walked away from the door and pulled out some plates and silverware from a shelf, "What do I owe the occasion?"

"Do you want to hear a teenaged girl's problems?" Phoenix smiled sarcastically. "Well, you don't seem to have those issues. What you assume to be a teenaged girl's problem could actually just be a regular problem." She wasn't sure how to go about talking to someone who wasn't Casper about this. Her professor ate quietly while she got her thoughts together, "Professor Snape, have you ever chased someone who didn't feel the same?"

Snape seemed to freeze in place. He was silent for a few moments before answering, "As a matter of fact, I did. But I wish not to speak of it. It's too painful of a story." Phoenix caught a look of overwhelming sadness in her professor's eyes. _'I wonder if I'm the only one who's ever seen that…'_ The silence between them was awkward to say the least. Snape cleared his throat after a minute, "Why do you ask?"

"Promise you won't laugh?"

"Do I ever look like I'm enjoying myself?"

"You laughed at me last time we spoke."

"Your witty comebacks seem to make me enjoy myself for a moment. Now out with it, I haven't got all day." Phoenix stayed silent. _'How do I say it? Oh dear Jesus…' _She stayed silent, Snape became annoyed and prodded at her once again, "Phoenix, you promised you'd tell me things. Remember, I promised your parents. I know you don't want your mother angry at either of us." She stayed silent for a little more before spilling, "Today Cedric kissed me and tried to get me to feel the same but I don't and I'm confused and awkward and WHAT DO I DO!?" Her eyes widened as she stared at her professor waiting for an answer.

"You don't feel the same?"

"Where my feelings are is complicated."

"You're fourteen, how can they be complicated?"

"Almost fifteen!"

"I apologize, you're almost fifteen. How can your feelings be complicated?"

"It's where they wanted to be placed that's complicated. Why aren't you answering my question?"

"Dear lord, girl. You really are just like me. What did you tell him?"

"Until he finds someone who will accept his affection we shouldn't see each other." Phoenix was just emotionally exhausted. She put her head down on the table for lack of being able to do much else. Snape placed a hand on her head and pet her head a few times, "I think you already did what you were supposed to. Don't worry Phoenix, everything will work out the way it's supposed to." She lifted her head from the table to look at Snape, "You really think so? I mean… I got a date to the Yule Ball today as well."

"See, things will look up. Confused and adolescence are always in each other's company. Trust me, fate has a weird way of making things work out. You see what I told you about attention?" Phoenix nodded and shivered when Snape's hand stroked her hair one final time before leaving her head.

"You know, out of class sometimes I think you've been replaced by a robot."

"Out of all the things in the world of wizards you choose a muggle object. You are your parents." Snape chuckled once more at his student, earning a grin from her. Suddenly, she wasn't so confused about where her feelings lay.

**AN: A nice little chapter to help draw everything else out. That and I had to throw poor Casper a bone. **


	7. Chapter 7: No More Muggle Stories

**AN: Well well, here we are again. Here you are my darlings! A fresh batch of delicious Snape! Make sure to give love! OH! And take my poll on my page for future stories! :)**

"PHOENIX WAKE UP!" The fire head's eyes snapped open. Phoenix's mind instantly starting formulating the insults she would use on Casper for waking her up. Her thoughts changed to ones of praise when she sat up to have a cupcake with a candle lit shoved in her face. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Chorused the girls in her room.

"Aw, you guys!" She couldn't help but smile. People remembering her birthday wasn't exactly the norm. "Make a wish! Make a wish!" Josephine took the cupcake and held it up for Phoenix to blow out. She paused for a moment and blew out the candle, grin still plastered on her face. "Now don't you tell anyone! Or else it won't come true!" Kira said from Phoenix's other side.

The day seemed to be full of surprises and happiness, while making her way to the Great Hall Cedric awkwardly approached. It had been almost a month since the two had spoken. Considering it was December 13th, Phoenix hoped Cedric had focused on someone. "Phoenix, may I speak to you?" She sighed and leaned against the wall, "First of all happy birthday."

"Make it quick, Cedric. My stomach is growling." Somewhere in her head it made sense to be a little mean. It would help shove Cedric towards someone else. Having a Casper situation just didn't sound appealing to her.

"Well, I'd like you to know that I've focused on someone else. I'm happy to say that I'm attending the Yule Ball with Cho Chang! And she may like me too!" Cedric was grinning from ear to ear, as was Phoenix. "Cedric! You did it! Come here and give me a hug!" It felt good to be friends with him again. Cutting off a deep friendship so quickly was awkward, uncomfortable, and quite upsetting. "Oh, and of course a gift for the birthday girl." Cedric placed a parcel wrapped in plain brown paper in her hands. Phoenix carefully unwrapped it to see a volume of _The Forbidden Knowledge of Dragons_ resting in her hands. "How… not even my mother could find this…"

"Would you believe me if I told you I received a strange package from your grandmother a few weeks ago with a note that asked if this could somehow end up in your hands? I think it's her gift to you." Phoenix smiled, "Of course I'd believe you. You were one of Nana Gwen's favorites. She always told me to have friends in high places. Remember, anything is possible in my family." She tucked the book into her bag while they continued walking. On her way towards the table Harry and Hermione pulled Phoenix aside to wish her a happy birthday. Both hugged her at the same, causing Phoenix to see Ron sitting at the table watching. Ron pulled his hair and looked down at the table. He was obviously ashamed that he had forgotten his best friend's birthday, fight or not they always remember each other's birthdays. Or at least that's what Phoenix had thought.

"Professor?" After a day of sweets and happy birthdays, Phoenix decided to pay Snape a visit. The classroom was eerily quiet as she entered, "Professor Snape?" Suddenly, a shadowy figure was in front of her. "HOLY FUCK! DEMENTOR!"

"Miss Remington, that sort of language is inappropriate. I ask you to mind your mouth in my classroom," Snape scowled down at her and then leaned closer, "Detention. Play along." The informality that Snape had begun to use with Phoenix made her forget how mean he was to everyone else. He was always so nice to her and asked everyday how she was feeling. No one ever bothered to ask how she felt everyday.

"My apologies, Professor. I just have a question." Her professor responded by holding up a finger and turning around to the unlucky students cleaning cauldrons, "Beakers! Miss Remington better be able to check her hair in it!" He snapped at the students and turned a fake sneer on her while they ran away into a closet. When the door slammed shut and the hyperventilating faded, Snape's sneer dropped into one of those secret smiles only his favorite student got to see, "I apologize. Just because I'm nice to you doesn't mean I'm nice to everyone."

"No problem Professor. Nice slam on my hair," Phoenix took a seat in his desk chair and propped her feet up, "So what are they in for? Let me guess, causing a mess? Late? Or are they just all imbeciles to you?" Snape rolled his eyes at his student. Since they had breached the teacher/student relationship and rolled into some weird therapeutic friendship, Phoenix had become a little more open towards him. He couldn't really do anything to her about it, then he would be calling the cauldron black. "If you must know Phoenix, which I know you're dying to, they are in for causing my classroom to be smoked out yesterday. Not everyone follows directions like you do." He decided to play along and sat where she usually did, "Enjoying yourself?"

"Quite, Mr. Snape. You see, I teach all day long and no one ever listens to me. They're just imbeciles. Except for Phoenix Remington, she must be the best student I've ever had!" She giggled at the last part, unable to take any bragging seriously. "For the record Miss Remington," suddenly Snape was close to her face with both hands on the desk in front of her, "Your father was my best student. But I suppose since you are his offspring I could name you second best."

_'Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush!' _Phoenix fought hard to keep her blush down. Instead she swallowed hard when her professor didn't move from his position. She wasn't exactly sure where her feelings lay yet, and the appeal that he had right now was too tempting. His face was so close… _'What the hell are you doing?! STOP!'_ She mentally thanked herself for quickly recovering from moving closer to Snape's face. The badger managed to play it off like she was just shifting in the chair. Luckily, the movement made Snape snap out of it and return to his normal sitting position.

"I believe a happy birthday is in order." Phoenix was surprised, so surprised that her legs dropped to the ground, "How did you know?" Her professor laughed. He actually laughed, "Your father is one of my only good friends. When you were born I was alerted immediately. December 13th. I always remember." The words _when you were born I was alerted immediately_ made the fire in her heart die down. For a moment, Phoenix remembered that Snape was alive when she was born. And not like he was alive as a baby, but he was a full grown man. _'Teacher crush over.' _Yet, him always remembering struck a small chord on her heart strings.

"I do have something for you. If you give me a moment, I'll go get it." Phoenix nodded and watched Snape go to the back of the room. Yes, he was a full grown man a little older than her parents but damn was he attractive. He wasn't exactly the ladies' choice on looks, but he had the personality. Lately, Phoenix had been having dreams with him making appearances. At first it was harmless, doing experiments and grading. It had all gone downhill from there. The dreams turned from experiments and grading to Snape whispering lovely words in her ear with that deep, powerful voice of his. And last night's… oh god, last night's…

"Ah, here we are. It isn't much but I think you'll like it," Snape walked back over and handed her a key. "It's a key… a key to my, uh,"

_'Heart. Be cheesy and say it's the key to your heart.'_

"It's the key to my supply closet. I figured you'd find it useful to get out of your room on the weekends and do experiments in here. It is a potions classroom after all. I figured this would be useful and appropriate." Snape awkwardly handed over the key and began looking around the room. He obviously wasn't used to giving gifts, or probably even being kind. "Thank you Professor. I assure you that this will be used many times." With that, she stood and excused herself.

The next morning, Phoenix awoke with a jolt. She was panting. Her forehead was sweating. A deep blush was plastered on her face. She began looking around the room frantically to see if anyone else was in the bedroom, and was relieved to see it empty. The others girls had probably figured that Phoenix was in one of her rare deep sleeps and left her alone to go about their weekend activities. The fire head took the opportunity to catch her breath and reflect upon the dream she had just had.

From what she remembered, it was continuing where the previous dream had left off. She was grading papers with Snape in this classroom late at night. Both of them were busy at work but kept catching each other's eyes. Their hands brushed together while refilling their quills and Snape took the chance to grab her hand. He pulled her into a fiery, passionate kiss that she had only read about. Her professor had somehow pulled her across the desk so she was in his lap, furiously kissing her. In between kisses, he'd whisper sweet nothings in that voice of his. That's where her previous dream had left off. In this one, it happened all over again and more. Now, Snape pushed everything off his desk and had made passionate love to Phoenix on his desk. That was about where she was woken up.

"Well, this is awkward," She spoke to herself. Once her temperature dropped back to normal, Phoenix rolled over to lay a hand on a drawer on her nightstand. "One thing's for sure, I got to stop reading muggle books." Phoenix lulled herself back to sleep with her new dragon book. She happily dreamed of concurring dragons and soaring the skies, with no potions teacher in sight.


	8. Chapter 8: Precise Movements

**AN: Hello, hello! I'm back from the dead! I'm so very sorry my dears! But here it is... the long awaited CHAPTER EIGHT! **

"Oh god Severus!" Red hair fanned out on his pillow. The tension building up between them was just getting to be too much. Snape couldn't go on teasing and making her beg any longer, "What is you want?" She blushed and looked away, Snape gently turned his lover's face to meet his eyes. Just as their lips met, the potions professor's eyes snapped open. He was lying in his bed, alone. There was nobody next to him in the cold, damp dungeon. No, it would be another lonely day.

The events of the dream stayed with the professor through the day. He desperately tried to remember what shade of red her hair had been. A light red would mean that everything was normal, but if it happened to resemble fire… well then, he'd be in trouble…

Everyday at Hogwarts seemed to test Snape's patience and waning dislike of people. Almost every student of his was an imbecile. The only pleasure he ever received, at least most of the time, was when one of them screwed up so bad that he had to give them a detention. Today was not one of those days. No, today was a quiet day that had no distractions at all. Not until later that afternoon when a head slowly poke the classroom and look around as if to see if it was empty, "May I help you Phoenix?" Snape asked without looking up from erasing the scribbles from a day of teaching on the chalkboard. The two used informality as a sort of secret code to establish if they were alone or not.

From the corner of his eye, Snape could see her approach him. She seemed nervous. "What ails you, my student?" Snape hoped that his attempts at humor would make her smile, but she still seemed nervous. With winter holiday approaching, Phoenix had been showing up more often in the classroom. (Not that Snape minded one bit.) This was her first Christmas away from her family, which was currently in shambles, and Snape had made a promise to watch after her.

"Professor, you know the Yule Ball is a couple of days away…." Phoenix looked down and concentrated on her boots kicking up dust and powdery ingredients. "Are you getting cold feet, Phoenix? You know you can't back out. If you try to, I'll have to make it a requirement. And I know for a fact that you can't stand failing an assignment." Phoenix gave a small laugh for Snape's joke, but couldn't wipe her nervousness off her face or from her eyes. Snape couldn't let her become him. He needed to help push her in the right direction. God knows he only lost his virginity at Hogwarts from a girl so sick she was delirious. And as a thank you, he ended up with the muggle disease mono.

"Professor. I can't go. And I have a valid reason!" Snape crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, "Do you? Well, go ahead. Share with the class." The Hufflepuff blushed a deep pink and shook her head, "No, no, I can't! It's embarrassing!" Snape continued to keep his stance while Phoenix experienced an internal battle before looking around the room and admitting in a hushed tone, "I can't dance."

Snape could've laughed, he would have started laughing if not for the look on the girl's face. She was too much like him. "Oh Phoenix, you're always a delight. Come now," He held out his hand to his student, who stared at it blankly, "You should take a man's hand when he does this. It means he wants to dance." Phoenix's eyes widened while her shaking hand took his. Sometimes she was like an innocent little child, and he had to admit that she had qualities about her that were quite cute. But that was an inappropriate adjective to use on a student.

Snape lead Phoenix to the middle of the room and placed his hand on her waist. He could feel her tense up under his hand and watched her lick her lips nervously.

"Now, follow me. Okay?" Phoenix nodded and placed a small hand on his arm. She held on tight, making his hand on her waist tighten. They danced in silence. Phoenix was too busy concentrating to speak and Snape had nothing to discuss. The silence was deafening though, so he had to make small talk.

"I heard that you're going with a Weasley…" Phoenix looked up and raised an eyebrow, "That's really what you're going with?"

"Would you rather silence?" Phoenix would have replied sarcastically, but she lost her balance and fell into Snape's chest. She pulled back immediately and tried to hide her blush in her sweater sleeve, "Sorry! Sorry! I'm not very balanced!" Snape couldn't help but break face and smile down at her, which made her blush deepen.

"Jesus, Phoenix. Is there blood in any other part of your body but your face? Come now, it's okay to lose balance but you need to make a quick recovery." The pair reassumed their previous positions and started up again, "And for god's sake don't wear a baggy sweater to the ball! It's an extremely formal environment and no one can understand a word you say through that sleeve." Phoenix took a second from her counting to giggle, "Don't worry, I plan on surprising everyone there." She gave the potions master a coy smile, which then let out a squeak as she was twirled around. "You better be a surprise, I didn't take time out of my schedule to help you for nothing."

"Professor, I doubt George can dance this well."

"You never Phoenix, you never know," Snape twirled Phoenix out and then in again, "Besides, anything can happen."

The look in Snape's eyes unsettled and excited Phoenix at the same time, and the feeling decided to be a bitch and stay with her long after the dance lesson. For days she imagined dancing at the Yule Ball with Snape, him twirling around her, telling her that he thought she was beautiful, their lips slowly meeting…

"PHOENIX! Quit daydreaming and finish getting ready!" Phoenix snapped out of her daydream in enough time to dodge a flying compact. "Nixie, I don't know what you're daydreaming about but you've been putting on lipstick for the past 10 minutes. Look at yourself!" Phoenix looked from Casper to her reflection. Apparently her daydreams of Snape had lead her to believe that'd she attract him with dark pink lipstick not only on her lips but half of the left side of her face.

"Here, let me help you. Nervous?" Casper gently scrubbed the lipstick off her friend's face and mouth before reapplying. "Just a little," Phoenix sighed back. Casper gave her friend a reassuring smile, "I know it's not about George," she whispered. Phoenix's eyes went wide as her cheeks began blush, "Don't worry. I won't say anything," Casper winked down at her and then pointed to the mirror, "There! Now you're ready!"

Phoenix's hands shook as she fumbled with her gown. _Casper can't know. But she said she does. Jesus Christ how does she figure these things out!?_ The fire head just about ripped the bodice in half before a pair of hands took the gown from her. "Hands over your head." Phoenix did as she was told while Casper slipped the gown into place. "Casper," Phoenix whispered while her friend began lacing up the back. She paused until she heard a "Hmmm?"

"How did you know?"

"I know all, I see all, and you mumble in your sleep." Phoenix gave a shaky sigh and adjusted the dripping sleeves her gown that connected to the bodice. "So I was right that day in the library." It wasn't a question but a statement, a statement that she feared would earn a concerned lecture from the elder Hufflepuff later on.

"Guys! The ball is about to start!" One of the other girls popped her head into the room to announce to the two badgers. Both nodded and watched the girl's head disappear from the door. "Nixie, lace me up?"

Phoenix laced Casper's dress in complete silence with the careful precision of someone who very much wanted to avoid the elephant in the room, "Be careful, alright? That's all I care about. Run off and have a romantic love story just…" Casper couldn't finish her sentence. She turned around and made eye contact with the younger girl for a few minutes before finishing her sentence, "_please be careful._" Phoenix nodded and hugged Casper, "It can't happen. He wouldn't do it. I'm just a teacher's pet."

The two girls made their towards the Yule Ball where they met with the Weasley twins. Fred immediately whisked away Casper, leaving George and Phoenix to sit on the side lines and people watch, but really were just making fun of some of the snootier attendants. George made for a excellent date, he sat and joked with Phoenix for the better part of the night, though she noticed that his kept flickering to Angelina Johnson.

"George, the longer you stare at her the more she'll feel like a target." George jumped out his haze and glared at his date, "I am _not_ staring at her like I'm going to attack." He then slowly turned his eyes towards Angelina again and gave her a shy smile when he saw that she was looking at him.

"You fancy her, don't you?"

"N-No, no! She's just… just a friend!"

"George, I'm your friend not your _girl_friend. Go talk to her, do whatever methods you do to flirt."

"But, but…"

"George, go talk to her or so help me god I will tell her that you fancy her." George huffed at Phoenix before walking over to talk to Angelina, leaving Phoenix all alone in the corner of the room to watch all the attendees.

"What a kind gesture, Miss Remington." Phoenix looked up and smiled at her potions professor, "Well, you know me. I love match making." Snape replied with a noise that Phoenix took as a scoff. The two stood silently and watched the other students and professors dance around the room.

"Shouldn't you be doing something like subtracting points and handing out detentions to all these smiling students?" The badger looked up at the professor with a sarcastic smirk. "Oh, wouldn't I love to. But unfortunately, I can't hand out punishments until classes are back in session," Phoenix faked a sigh and smiled, "It would seem that your friend is watching us, Miss Remington."

Phoenix looked towards the dance floor to see Casper staring over Fred's shoulder right at them. Her eyes flashed from her to Snape and then back at her, her way of trying to ask if everything was okay. Phoenix nodded and gestured with her shoulders to look away, that Snape was getting a little suspicious. "I must say, Miss Remington, you held up your end of the deal. Your dress is quite a surprise." Phoenix blushed and hugged herself, palms resting her bare shoulders.

"Come now, you're really embarrassed now? The dancing I understand, but you look very, erm, decent. Turn around, I want to see it." The fire head's eyes widen at Snape's request, but she did as she was told. Phoenix twirled around very quickly so Snape could see the emerald gown, admire the gold embroidery, and see how the sleeves connected to the bodice while keeping her shoulders bare. "I like it, it suits you." The badger smiled, her blush deepening, "Thank you professor." The pair turned their eyes back towards the dance floor, standing in complete silence until Phoenix decided to be brave.

"Professor, let's put your lesson to good use." She looked back at him with a hopeful smile. Snape looked from the dance floor while dropping the volume of his voice, "Phoenix, I'd love to but it would be frowned upon by others to see a professor dancing with a student." His eyes met hers for a moment, taking in the disappoint in hers, registering that she only wanted to dance with him. "Follow me."

Phoenix receded farther into the darkened corner with Snape, who wrapped one arm around her waist and took her hand with his other. They took a different tempo than the music that was playing, swayed slowly, eyes locked on each other, darkness piercing into the sea. Suddenly, Snape pulled Phoenix to him. He made the snap decision to close the space between their bodies, fulfilling the odd need he had to feel the warmth of her body that stuck with him since their dance lesson. He expected Phoenix to squeak and blush and look away, instead she kept quiet, eyes locked on his. He was surprised to feel her shift her arm to wrap around his neck. The pair continued to maintain eye contact, neither wanting to be the one to break the wall. All it took was one move and they could act on it, on this feeling they both had. Oh, what a team they made. Snape at the command, giving out orders and overseeing while Phoenix carried out his orders and secured that everything was done correctly. All it would take would be _one. little. movement._

Neither acted first, instead they acted together. Both of them turned, Phoenix backed while Snape moved forward, he made sure that her back gently met the wall. There was a moment between these movements and when it finally happened, a moment that contained wavering eye contact and shaky breathing. And then their lips met.

Snape kept one arm wrapped around Phoenix's waist while the other tangled into her hair, holding the back of her head just to keep her there in that moment. Phoenix's wrapped both arms around Snape's neck, hands tangling in his hair for the same reasons. Their lips were tentative at first, slow and gentle, quickly becoming aggressive and passionate, pent up feelings finally coming to light. They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, eventually having to break away to breath. He watched the way her face lit up as her brain registered what had just happened, validating his suspicions of her feelings. He moved his face closer to hers, lips barely touching. "No one can know," He breathed onto her dark pink lips. "I know," Phoenix whispered back. Snape looked back into Phoenix's eyes again, letting the darkness crash with the sea once more, "I have to go." He kissed her lips once more, gentle and caring, and then made his way out the room. Phoenix watched Snape leave, setting a hand on her heaving chest to feel her rapid heart beat, smiling while she touched her lips to relive what had just happened.

Phoenix wouldn't know until much later that Snape met with Karkaroff that night, finding out from Harry when he came to ask her if she knew anything about the meeting. Phoenix would say nothing and question Snape, who would collapse and tell her everything on an evening very far from the night of the Yule Ball. One fact Snape would never share with Phoenix until a very long time had past was that when Snape met Karkaroff in the halls outside the ball he had pointed towards the professor's mouth and say, "You have something on your lips, Severus." Snape then took out a handkerchief and wiped at his lips, looking down at the cloth to see dark pink lipstick. After telling Phoenix this story he would smile just as he secretly did that night while Karkaroff wasn't looking.

**I felt so guilty for not updating for a year :/ So I gave everyone what they wanted, a little Snape/Phoenix action ;) Oh, it's the start of a beautiful relationship! **


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